Proteins used for the diagnosis of lyme borreliosis

ABSTRACT

Chimera proteins including: (i) at least one sequence of a DbpA protein of a  Borrelia  species selected from  B. afzelii, B. burgdorferi sensu stricto  and  B. garinii , and (ii) at least one sequence of an OspC protein of a  Borrelia  species selected from  B. afzelii, B. burgdorferi sensu stricto  and  B. garinii . Also, a method and a kit for the in vitro diagnosis of Lyme borreliosis using said proteins.

This is a continuation of application Ser. No. 13/388,178 filed Jan. 31, 2012, now U.S. Pat. No. 9,347,943, which is a National Stage Application of PCT/FR2010/051780 filed Aug. 26, 2010, and claims the benefit of French Application No. 0904093 filed Aug. 28, 2009. The entire disclosures of the prior applications are hereby incorporated by reference herein in their entirety.

Lyme borreliosis (LB) is a noncontagious infectious disease caused by a spirochete called Borrelia burgdorferi, which is transmitted to humans via a bite by a tick of the genus Ixodes. Without treatment, LB leads to various pathological disorders (dermatological, arthritic, cardiac, neurological and sometimes ocular disorders). It is the most common vector-borne disease in the USA and in certain temperate countries of the northern hemisphere.

Several borrelia species, currently denoted under the group term burgdorferi or Borrelia burgdorferi sensu lato (including Borrelia burgdorferi sensu stricto, B. garinii and B. afzelii), are involved in this infection. These species are pathogenic to humans.

In the United States, the infectious species involved is Borrelia burgdorferi sensu stricto. In Europe, in addition to this species, B. garinii and B. afzelii are involved. In Asia, the species involved are B. garinii and B. afzelii.

In the United States, approximately 10 000 cases per year are reported. In Europe, the incidence rates vary from less than 5 per 100 000.

Lyme borreliosis progresses by passing through three distinct phases, from early infection to the late phase. The early stage (stage I) may be asymptomatic or reflected by flu-like symptoms. In 50-80% of cases, the appearance of an inflammatory skin rash with a very particular appearance, called erythema migrans (EM) is noted several days after the bite by the tick. In the absence of treatment, the dissemination of the Borrelia via the blood is reflected a few weeks later by the occurrence of inflammatory arthritis, neurological (neuroborreliosis) and meningeal involvement, and skin and cardiac manifestations (stage II). After several months or years, the disease progresses to a chronic atrophicans form, encephalopathy, encephalomyelitis and chronic arthritis (stage III).

A particular organotropism exists for each of the species of Borrelia burgdorferi. While the first stage of erythema migrans is without distinction linked to the three species, the progression to a neurological form is preferentially associated with the species B. garinii, arthritis is more associated with B. burgdorferi sensu stricto, and acrodermatitis chronica atrophicans is specific for B. afzelii.

The similarity of the clinical symptoms between Lyme borreliosis and other unrelated diseases, and also the variability in manifestations, makes clinical diagnosis difficult. The diagnosis of borreliosis can be particularly difficult on the basis of clinical observations, if case history evidence is absent (tick bite or EM). The early stage of the disease may be without visible symptoms up to the time it reaches very advanced clinical stages.

Consequently, the diagnosis of LB is based on clinical signs but also on the detection of pathogenic Borrelia burgdorferi-specific antibodies in the serum, most commonly by ELISA (Enzyme Linked ImmunoSorbent Assay) or else EIA or IFA. The anti-Borrelia burgdorferi IgM antibodies generally appear a few days or weeks after the beginning of the infection and can persist during the progression of the disease. The IgG response is later. Most patients have IgGs approximately one month after the beginning of the active infection and these IgGs can also persist for years after the initial exposure and resolution of the symptoms.

In Europe, the evaluation of the serological response is complicated owing to the existence of three pathogenic species and to the interspecies variability for the major immunodominant antigens. The antigens currently routinely used for detecting LB IgGs and IgMs are ultrasound-treated cell samples of Borrelia burgdorferi sensu late. The performance levels of the serological assays with these antigens, in terms of specificity and sensitivity, are highly variable. Thus, owing to insufficient specificity, involving cross reactivities with antibodies associated with various pathogenic bacteria, in particular Treponema pallidium (etiological agent for syphilis), spirochetes, rickettsiae, ehrlichia, or Helicobacter pylori, the diagnosis of samples having tested positive by ELISA must be confirmed by immunoblotting. Sensitivity is also a major factor. This is because Borrelia burgdorferi sensu late expresses various surface proteins via adaptation to various microenvironments, such that the genetic diversity and the differential expression of the Borrelia burgdorferi genes in patients have important implications for the development of serological tests for LB. The OspC (Outer-surface protein C) lipoprotein and the DbpA (Decorin-binding protein A) protein are among these proteins. DbpA appears to be mainly expressed in mammals after infection. These proteins exhibit great sequence variability according to Borrelia burgdorferi species and great interspecies sequence variability. The DbpA proteins are particularly variable and are divided up into four groups: a group corresponding to the genospecies Borrelia afzelii, another group corresponding to the genospecies Borrelia sensu stricto and two groups corresponding to the genospecies Borrelia burgdorferi garinii. The interspecies amino acid sequences identity between the DbpA proteins is only 40-44%. It is 54-72% for the OspC proteins.

It is therefore necessary to develop a kit which meets the expected specificity and sensitivity criteria and in particular which improves IgM detection, in terms of sensitivity, in the case of recent infection.

The present invention proposes to solve all the drawbacks of the prior art through novel chimeric recombinant proteins which can be readily synthesized and purified and which exhibit strong immunoreactivity with respect to sera from patients that may be infected with one or more pathogenic species of Borrelia burgdorferi. These chimeric fusion proteins make it possible to overcome the problems of sensitivity and specificity linked: to the presence of several pathogenic species of Borrelia burgdorferi, to the great sequence variability of the surface antigens of Borrelia burgdorferi and to the need to use several antigens representative of the species B. garinii, B. burgdorferi sensu stricto and B. afzelii in order to develop a test for the diagnosis of Lyme borreliosis based at least on the detection of anti-OspC and anti-DbpA antibodies.

The chimeric fusion proteins of the invention make it possible, moreover, to solve difficulties encountered in expressing certain antigens in recombinant form at a high level. Indeed, despite considerable work on the construction of genes in order to obtain optimized expression thereof in E. coli, the inventors have shown for the first time that the OspC proteins are weakly expressed in recombinant form in E. coli, whereas, entirely unforeseeably, they have found that the DbpA proteins can be expressed under the same conditions in soluble form under nondenaturing conditions and with higher yields. The ease of expression of the DbpA proteins has been exploited in order to create chimeric proteins composed of DbpA and of OspC, and the inventors have been able to show that the chimeric proteins are expressed better than the isolated OspC proteins, which was completely unexpected since it has never been described or even suggested that the DbpA proteins can have fusion protein properties. Thus, in order to improve the expression levels, the inventors have designed DbpA-OspC chimera proteins using the unexpected fusion properties of the DbpA proteins in order to improve the expression and the solubility of the chimera proteins. Preferably, in the molecular construct for the expression of a chimera protein of the invention, the gene encoding the DbpA protein is integrated upstream of that or of those encoding one or more OspC proteins. According to this preferred molecular construct, the chimera protein of the invention has, at its N-terminal end, a sequence belonging to a DbpA protein sequence and, at its C-terminal end, a sequence belonging to an OspC protein sequence. In addition to making it possible to facilitate and optimize the expression and the solubility of the chimera protein, this type of preferential construct also has another advantage, which is that of improving the recognition of the chimera by anti-Borrelia antibodies owing to the better presentation, to said antibodies, of the immunodominant region of the OspC protein. A further advantage of the chimeric proteins of the invention is that of limiting the number of recombinant proteins that go to make up a kit for the diagnosis of Lyme borreliosis. Moreover, the fusion properties of the DbpA proteins make them an excellent candidate for the expression of DbpA-OspC chimera vaccine proteins for preventing a Borrelia infection. Consequently, the chimeric proteins of the invention are of use as an active agent in a preventive vaccine against borreliosis.

Thus, the subject of the present invention is an unnatural, Borrelia DbpA-OspC chimeric fusion protein, which is synthetic, i.e. obtained by genetic engineering (recombinant protein) or by peptide synthesis, said protein being selected from the group consisting of:

(a) a protein of which the amino acid sequence comprises (or consists of) the sequence SEQ ID NO: 1 and the sequence SEQ ID NO: 2 or a variant of said protein of which the amino acid sequence comprises (or consists of) a sequence which exhibits at least 40% identity with SEQ ID NO: 1 and a sequence which exhibits at least 50% identity with SEQ ID NO: 2, on the condition that said variant is capable of forming an immunological complex with antibodies produced following a Borrelia infection or that said variant is capable of inducing the production of anti-Borrelia antibodies; (b) a protein of which the amino acid sequence comprises (or consists of) the sequence SEQ ID NO: 3 and the sequence SEQ ID NO: 4 or a variant of said protein of which the amino acid sequence comprises (or consists of) a sequence which exhibits at least 40% identity with SEQ ID NO: 3 and a sequence which exhibits at least 50% identity with SEQ ID NO: 4, on the condition that said variant is capable of forming an immunological complex with antibodies produced following a Borrelia infection or that said variant is capable of inducing the production of anti-Borrelia antibodies; (c) a protein of which the amino acid sequence comprises (or consists of) the sequence SEQ ID NO: 5 and the sequence SEQ ID NO: 7 or a variant of said protein of which the amino acid sequence comprises (or consists of) a sequence which exhibits at least 40% identity with SEQ ID NO: 5 and a sequence which exhibits at least 50% identity with SEQ ID NO: 7, on the condition that said variant is capable of forming an immunological complex with antibodies produced following a Borrelia infection or that said variant is capable of inducing the production of anti-Borrelia antibodies; (d) a protein of which the amino acid sequence comprises (or consists of) the sequence SEQ ID NO: 6 and the sequence SEQ ID NO: 7 or a variant of said protein of which the amino acid sequence comprises (or consists of) a sequence which exhibits at least 40% identity with SEQ ID NO: 6 and a sequence which exhibits at least 50% identity with SEQ ID NO: 7, on the condition that said variant is capable of forming an immunological complex with antibodies produced following a Borrelia infection or that said variant is capable of inducing the production of anti-Borrelia antibodies; (e) a protein of which the amino acid sequence comprises (or consists of) the sequence SEQ ID NO: 5, the sequence SEQ ID NO: 6 and the sequence SEQ ID NO: 7 or a variant of said protein of which the amino acid sequence comprises (or consists of) a sequence which exhibits at least 40% identity with SEQ ID NO: 5, a sequence which exhibits at least 40% identity with SEQ ID NO: 6 and a sequence which exhibits at least 50% identity with SEQ ID NO: 7, on the condition that said variant is capable of forming an immunological complex with antibodies produced following a Borrelia infection or that said variant is capable of inducing the production of anti-Borrelia antibodies; and (f) a protein of which the amino acid sequence comprises (or consists of) a sequence selected from SEQ ID NOs: 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13 and 14.

Each of the proteins identified above comprises at least one sequence of the extracellular domain of a DbpA protein of a Borrelia species selected from B. afzelii (SEQ ID NO: 1), B. burgdorferi sensu stricto (SEQ ID NO: 3) and B. garinii (group III: SEQ ID NO: 5) (group IV: SEQ ID NO: 6) or a sequence exhibiting at least 40% identity with said sequences, and at least one sequence of an OspC protein of B. afzelii (SEQ ID NO: 2), B. burgdorferi sensu stricto (SEQ ID NO: 4) and B. garinii (SEQ ID NO: 7) or a sequence which exhibits at least 50% identity with said sequences. Preferentially, the DbpA sequence(s) is (are) placed on the N-terminal side of the chimeric recombinant protein and the OspC sequence is placed on the C-terminal side of the chimeric recombinant protein.

A sequence of at least 6 histidines can be added at the N-terminal or C-terminal end of the chimeric protein in order to enable its purification on metal-chelate resin. The 6-histidine sequence, identified in SEQ ID NO: 22, is preferentially placed on the N-terminal side of the construct. This is illustrated, by way of example, by the sequences SEQ ID NOs: 9, 11, 13 and 14 which comprise a poly-His(6) tail on the N-terminal side. The poly-His tail can be encoded by any one of the sequences identified in SEQ ID NOs: 23, 24 and 25.

Additional amino acids may be present upstream of the poly-His tail owing to the insertion, into the coding DNA sequence, of a small sequence which makes it possible to facilitate the cloning of the sequence of interest into the expression plasmid. This is in particular the case in the sequences SEQ ID NOs: 9, 11, 13 and 14 which comprise an “MRGS” motif (SEQ ID NO: 26) upstream of the poly-His tail. The “MRGS” motif is encoded by ATGAGGGGATCC (SEQ ID NO: 27).

A linking region can be introduced between each of the DbpA and OspC sequences which makes up a chimeric recombinant protein. This type of region corresponds to a flexible spacing region providing better accessibility of the potential antibodies to each of the domains. It is rich in Gly and Ser amino acids, which are amino acids described as providing flexibility in the tertiary structure of the protein. It is also possible to introduce, into a coding sequence of interest, a DNA arm (or linker) in order to promote the linking between the coding sequences for two proteins of interest. This is in particular the case in the sequence SEQ ID NO: 14 which comprises a “GSGG” motif (SEQ ID NO: 28) encoded by sequence GGTTCCGGGGGT (SEQ ID NO: 29), which acts as a linker arm between the DbpA group IV and OspC proteins of B. garinii.

The preferred proteins are identified in SEQ ID NOs: 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13 and 14. They are respectively encoded by the corresponding DNA sequences identified in SEQ ID NOs: 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20 and 21.

The subject of the invention is also the DNA sequences encoding the proteins as defined above, and in particular the sequences identified in SEQ ID NOs: 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20 and 21.

The subject of the invention is also an expression cassette which is functional in a cell derived from a prokaryotic organism (example: Escherichia coli) or a eukaryotic organism, such as a yeast (example: Pichia, Schizosaccharomyces), allowing the expression of the nucleic acid described above (DNA), when it is placed under the control of the elements allowing its expression, and also the vector comprising such a cassette.

The proteins of the invention can in particular be used for the diagnosis of a Borrelia infection. Thus, the subject of the present invention is a method for the in vitro diagnosis of Lyme borreliosis in a biological sample (for example a serum, blood, plasma, etc., sample), according to which the biological sample is brought into contact with at least one protein as defined above and it is determined whether there is formation of an immunological complex between said protein and antibodies of the biological sample (IgGs and/or IgMs), for example by addition of at least one anti-human-immunoglobulin labeled with any appropriate label. The term “label” is intended to mean a tracer capable of generating a signal. A nonlimiting list of these tracers comprises enzymes which produce a signal that is detectable for example by colorimetry, fluorescence or luminescence, for instance horseradish peroxidase, alkaline phosphatase, β-galactosidase or glucose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase; chromophores, for instance fluorescent, luminescent or coloring compounds; electron-dense groups that can be detected by electron microscopy or via their electrical properties, for instance conductivity, by amperometry or voltammetry methods, or by impedance measurements; groups that can be detected by optical methods, for instance diffraction, surface plasmon resonance, or contact angle variation, or by physical methods, for instance atomic force spectroscopy, tunnel effect, etc.; radioactive molecules, for instance ³²P, ³⁵S or ¹²⁵I. Preferably, the protein(s) is (are) immobilized on a solid support which may be the tip of a Vidas® apparatus, the well of a microtitration plate, a gel, a particle, etc.

In one embodiment of the invention, the biological sample is in addition brought into contact with at least one VlsE chimeric protein, as described hereinafter.

The VlsE protein (surface expressed lipoprotein with Extensive antigenic Variation) is mainly expressed, in vivo, transiently and rapidly after infection of the host. It is very immunogenic in the infected host, involving the production of IgGs and IgMs. The Vls locus is located on a linear plasmid of 28 kb (Ip28-1) present in the three Borrelia genospecies responsible for Lyme disease and composed of silent cassettes and an expression site (VlsE). In vivo, random recombinations between expression cassettes and silent cassettes occur during infection and are responsible for the antigenic variability of VlsE. The VlsE protein is composed of six variable regions VR1-VR6, located at the surface of the VlsE protein, spaced out by “invariable” regions IR1-IR6.

The chimeric VlsE protein comprises (or consists essentially of):

(i) at least one sequence selected from the sequences identified in SEQ ID NOs: 30, 31, 32, 33 and 34 and the sequences which exhibit at least 50% identity, preferably 60% or 70% identity and advantageously at least 80% or 85% identity with SEQ ID NOs: 30, 31, 32, 33 and 34, and (ii) at least one sequence comprising the sequence SEQ ID NO: 35 or a sequence which exhibits at least 80% identity, preferably at least 85% identity and advantageously at least 90% identity with SEQ ID NO: 35, the sequence SEQ ID NO: 36 or a sequence which exhibits at least 80% identity, preferably at least 85% identity and advantageously at least 90% identity with SEQ ID NO: 36, the sequence SEQ ID NO: 37 or a sequence which exhibits at least 80% identity, preferably at least 85% identity and advantageously at least 90% identity with SEQ ID NO: 37, and, optionally, the sequence SEQ ID NO: 43. The VlsE chimeric protein preferably comprises the sequence SEQ ID NO: 43.

As described previously, it is possible to add a poly-histidine(x6) tail at the N-terminal end of the chimeric protein in order to allow its purification on metal-chelate resin, and also additional amino acids upstream of the poly-His tail.

A preferred chimera protein comprises (or consists essentially of or else consists of):

(i) the sequence SEQ ID NO: 30 or a sequence which exhibits at least 50% identity, preferably at least 60% or 70% identity and advantageously at least 80 or 85% identity with SEQ ID NO: 30; and

(ii) the sequence comprising the sequence SEQ ID NO: 35 or a sequence which exhibits at least 80% identity, preferably at least 85% identity and advantageously at least 90% identity with SEQ ID NO: 35, the sequence SEQ ID NO: 36 or a sequence which exhibits at least 80% identity, preferably at least 85% identity and advantageously at least 90% identity with SEQ ID NO: 36, the sequence SEQ ID NO: 37 or a sequence which exhibits at least 80% identity, preferably at least 85% identity and advantageously at least 90% identity with SEQ ID NO: 37, and the sequence SEQ ID NO: 43.

The preferred chimera protein comprises (or consists essentially of or else consists of):

(i) the sequence SEQ ID NO: 30; and

(ii) the sequence comprising the sequences SEQ ID NOs: 35, 36, 37 and 43.

The protein comprises or consists of a sequence identified as SEQ ID NO: 38.

SEQ ID NO: 30 corresponds to the sequence of the VlsE extracellular domain of B. garinii (strain pBi) deleted of its signal sequence (aa 1-19) and of the C-terminal region of the mature protein located after the IR6 domain.

SEQ ID NO: 31 corresponds to the sequence of the VlsE extracellular domain of B. garinii (strain pBr) deleted of its signal sequence and of the C-terminal region of the mature protein located after the IR6 domain.

SEQ ID NO: 32 corresponds to the sequence of the VlsE extracellular domain of B. garinii (strain pLi) deleted of its signal sequence and of the C-terminal region of the mature protein located after the IR6 domain.

SEQ ID NO: 33 corresponds to the sequence of the VlsE extracellular domain of B. afzelii (strain pKo) deleted of its signal sequence and of the C-terminal region of the mature protein located after the IR6 domain.

SEQ ID NO: 34 corresponds to the sequence of the VlsE extracellular domain of B. burgdorferi sensu stricto (strain B31) deleted of its signal sequence and of the C-terminal region of the mature protein located after the IR6 domain.

SEQ ID NO: 35 corresponds to the sequence of the IR6 domain of B. burgdorferi sensu stricto (strain B31).

SEQ ID NO: 36 corresponds to the sequence of the IR6 domain of B. afzelii (strain ACA-1).

SEQ ID NO: 37 corresponds to the sequence of the IR6 domain of B. garinii (strain Ip90).

SEQ ID NO: 43 corresponds to the sequence of the VR6 variable region of B. burgdorferi sensu stricto (strain B31).

The subject of the invention is also a kit for the in vitro diagnosis of Lyme borreliosis comprising at least one DbpA-OspC chimeric protein as defined above, preferably comprising at least one anti-human-immunoglobulin labeled with any appropriate label corresponding to the definitions given above. The kit may also comprise a chimeric VlsE protein as defined above.

The proteins of the invention can also be used as an active ingredient for the preparation of a vaccine composition for preventing a Borrelia infection. Thus, the subject of the present invention is also a vaccine composition comprising at least one protein as defined above and a pharmaceutically acceptable vehicle.

The following examples are given by way of illustration and are in no way limiting in nature. They make it possible to understand the invention more clearly. The order of the sequences encoding the various immunodominant epitope regions of the chimeric recombinant proteins can be optionally modified. The epitopes can also exhibit variations compared with the sequences described in the examples according to the species of Borrelia burgdorferi and the strain(s) that they represent. The length of the linking regions can also be modified in order to improve the flexibility between two domains. Finally, the attachment regions can be inserted within the linking regions.

EXAMPLES Example 1: Preparation of the Plasmid Constructs Encoding the DpbA-OspC Chimeric Recombinant Proteins

The DNA sequences encoding the various DpbA and OspC sequences described are identified in table 1. The DNA sequences were optimized in order to promote expression in E. coli using GeneOptimizer™ and synthesized respectively by GenScript corporation (Scotch Plains, N.J., USA) or GeneArt GmbH (Regensburg, Germany).

TABLE 1 Sequence origin B. burgdorferi species protein B. sensu stricto B. afzelii B. garinii DbpA *B31; **aa 2-192; *PKo; **aa 2-150; *40; **aa 2-187; ***AF069269 ***AJ131967 ***AF441832 *PBi; **aa 2-176; ***AJ841673 OspC *B31; **aa 26-210; *PKo; **aa 2-212; *PEi; **aa 32-208; ***X73622 ***X62162 ***AJ749866 *Isolate; **amino acids (aa); ***GenBank accession No.

Each chimeric recombinant protein comprises at least one epitope region corresponding to the extracellular domain of a DbpA sequence of Borrelia burgdorferi sensu stricto or B. afzelii or B. garinii and at least one epitope region corresponding to the extracellular domain of an OspC sequence of Borrelia burgdorferi sensu stricto or B. afzelii or B. garinii.

The combinations of various nucleotide sequences encoding DbpA and/or OspC sequences and also the modifications of nucleotide sequences, such as deletions, addition of a linking sequence or addition of a linker sequence, were carried out by genetic engineering using the PCR techniques well known to those skilled in the art and described, for example, in Sambrook J. et al., Molecular Cloning: A Laboratory Manual, 1989.

The DNA sequences encoding the chimeric proteins of interest were introduced into the pMR expression vector [2] between the BamHI restriction site in the 5′ position and the EcoRI or HindIII site in the 3′ position. The plasmid constructs and the corresponding proteins cited as example (bLYM114, bLYM120 and bLYM121) are described in table 2. The presence of MRGS in the N-terminal position of the recombinant proteins and the corresponding nucleotide sequence ATG AGG GGA TCC was introduced by the cloning technique used into the pMR expression vector. Only the ATG start codon and consequently the Met amino acid are really essential in this sequence.

A poly-histidine sequence (6×His) was introduced on the N-terminal side of each recombinant protein. This sequence allows purification of the recombinant proteins on a metal-chelate affinity column. It is a region for attachment to the Ni-NTA gel which makes it possible to subsequently facilitate the step of purifying the chimeric recombinant protein. This HHHHHH peptide (SEQ ID NO: 22) is encoded by the nucleotide sequences CATCATCATCATCATCAT (SEQ ID NO: 23) or CATCATCATCATCATCAC (SEQ ID NO: 24) or CATCATCACCACCATCAT (SEQ ID NO: 25) or by any other sequence encoding the sequence SEQ ID NO: 22. This particular attachment region, comprising a succession of histidines, allows in particular the oriented attachment of the recombinant protein to a support consisting of silica or of metal oxides.

TABLE 2 Plasmid constructs and corresponding proteins Plasmid construct characteristics Recombinant protein characteristics Site of insertion of the N-terminal Parental insert sequence into the Name Tag B. burgdorferi sequence vector vector bLYM114 6 x His B. afzelii strain PKo pMR78* 5′BamHI/3′EcoRI SEQ ID DbpA aa 2-150 + NO: 9 OspC aa 2-212 bLYM120 6 x His B. sensu stricto strain B31 pMR78* 5′BamHI/3′HindIII SEQ ID DbpA aa 28-192 + NO: 11 OspC aa 26-210 bLYM121 6 x His B. garinii pMR78* 5′BamHI/3′HindIII SEQ ID DbpA III aa 25-187 strain 40 + NO: 14 DbpA IV aa 24-175 strain PBi + OspC aa 32-208 strain PEi *[2]

Example 2: Expression of the Recombinant Proteins bLYM114, bLYM120 and bLYM121 of Example 1 and Purification

A plasmid construct corresponding to a sequence SEQ ID NO: 16, 18 or 21 inserted into an expression vector (pMR) was used to transform an E. coli bacterium (strain BL21) according to a conventional protocol known to those skilled in the art. The transformed bacteria were selected by virtue of their ampicillin resistance carried by the pMR vector.

A clone of a recombinant bacterium was then selected in order to inoculate a preculture of 40 ml of 2×YT medium (16 g/l tryptone; 10 g/l yeast extract; 5 g/l NaCl, pH 7.0) containing 100 μg/ml of ampicillin. After 15 to 18 hours of incubation at 30° C. with shaking at 250 rpm, this preculture was used to inoculate 1 liter of 2×YT medium containing 2% glucose and 100 μg/ml of ampicillin. This culture was incubated at 30° C. with shaking at 250 rpm until the OD at 600 nm reaches 1.0/1.2. The culture was maintained for 3 hours 30 min. or 4 hours at 30° C. while adding 0.4 mM isopropyl-β-D-thiogalactopyranoside (IPTG), and harvested by centrifugation at 6000 g for 30 min. The cell pellet was stored at −60° C. For the purification, the wet biomass was thawed and resuspended in a lysis buffer containing protease inhibitors without EDTA (Roche) and benzonase nuclease (Novagen), and subjected to cell rupture at 1.6 kBar in a cell disruptor (Constant Systems Ltd, Daventry, United Kingdom). The lysate was then centrifuged at 10 000 rpm for 45 min. at 2-8° C. The supernatant obtained contains the soluble proteins. This supernatant was filtered through a 0.45μ filter and purified by affinity chromatography on a metal chelation column (nickel-nitrilotriacetic acid matrix (Ni-NTA, Qiagen)). To do this, the supernatant was loaded (1 ml/min) at 18-25° C. onto an 8 ml column of Ni-NTA gel equilibrated in buffer A (see table 3). The column was then washed in buffer A, until an OD_(280 nm)=0 was obtained at the column outlet. The elution of the recombinant protein is obtained by applying a buffer B, according to the indications reported in table 3, and the purified protein was dialyzed in a 10000 ou 20000 MWCO dialysis cassette (Slide-A-Lyser®, Pierce) against a dialysis buffer. The conditions for purification on Ni-NTA gel are described in table 3.

TABLE 3 Recombinant protein purification bLYM114 bLYM120 bLYM121 Protein SEQ ID NO: 14 SEQ ID NO: 11 SEQ ID NO: 14 Lysis and Buffer A ¹ washing buffer Elution buffer Buffer B ² Elution step 1 90% buffer A + 92% buffer A + 100% 10% buffer B 8% buffer B buffer B (4CV) (4CV) Elution step 2 100% buffer B 100% buffer B NA Purification 12  13  20 yield mg protein/ g wet biomass Purification 80 122 245 yield mg protein/ L of culture ¹ 50 mM sodium phosphate, 30 mM imidazole, 500 mM NaCl, 0.1% TWEEN 20, 5% glycerol, pH = 7.8 ² 50 mM sodium phosphate, 325 mM imidazole, 500 mM NaCl, 5% glycerol, pH = 7.5

The samples were analyzed on NuPAGE® Novex® 4-12% in a NuPAGE® MES-SDS buffer, according to the instructions of the producer (Invitrogen). The proteins were either stained with COOMASSIE BRILLIANT BLUE or were transferred electrophoretically onto a nitrocellulose membrane. The membrane was blocked with 5% (w/v) dry milk in PBS and incubated with an antipentahistidine antibody (Qiagen) in PBS containing 0.05% TWEEN 20. A horseradish peroxidase-labeled goat anti-mouse IgG conjugate (Jackson Immunoresearch laboratories) in PBS/TWEEN was used as secondary antibody.

The protein concentration was determined using the Bradford kit (PIERCE COOMASSIE PLUS, Perbio Science) with BSA as protein standard.

Example 3: Detection of Human IgGs and IgMs with the Chimeric Recombinant Proteins Using a Line Immunoblot Technique

Each recombinant protein was deposited on a polyvinylidene difluoride membrane (PVDF, Immobilon, Millipore, Bedford, Mass. USA) according to the following protocol: The protein concentration was adjusted to 1 mg/ml in PBS, pH 7.2, and diluted in PBS, pH 7.2, supplemented with 0.03% TWEEN 20 (dilution 1/200^(th)). The PVDF membrane was wetted in methanol, washed in demineralized water and laid out on a wet blotting paper. A plastic ruler was immersed in the protein dilution and attached to the PVDF membrane. After depositing of the proteins and drying of the membranes, the membranes were cut vertically into narrow strips. Before use, the narrow strips were incubated with 5% gelatin in TBS, pH 7.5, for 1 hour at 37° C. The immunoblot protocols were carried out at ambient temperature as described by Bretz A. G. et al. [3]. The narrow strips were incubated for 2 hours with human sera diluted to 1/200^(th) in TBS with 1% gelatin, washed and incubated with an anti-human-IgG or anti-human-IgM antibody labeled with alkaline phosphatase (Sigma, St-Louis, USA) diluted to 1/1000^(th) in TBS with 1% gelatin. After washing, the narrow strips were incubated with the alkaline phosphatase substrate BCIP-NBT (KPL, Gaithersburg, Md., USA) for 30 min., and then washed in distilled water and dried.

Panel of Sera Tested

The human sera were collected from clinically well-defined, typical LB patients corresponding to the various stages of LB (22 with erythema migrans [EM], 5 with carditis, 20 with neuroborreliosis [NB], 20 with Lyme arthritis [LA], 20 with acrodermatitis chronica atrophicans [ACA] and 10 with lymphadenosis cutis benigna [LCB]). Anti-Lyme IgGs were found by immunoblot, described previously and using whole cell lysates [4], in the sera of patients with LA, ACA and carditis. EM, NB and LCB were identified clinically, but not all the corresponding sera were found to be positive by in-house immunoblot [4], or using the commercially available kits (Vidas® Lyme (biomérieux), Borrelia IgG (Diasorin®) and Borrelia IgM (r-biopharm®)). On the other hand, all the cases of NB included in the study had detectable antibodies in the cerebrospinal fluid [CSF] (index extending from 2 to 27.1 with Vidas® Lyme (biomérieux)). The presence of IgM was sought only in the stage I and stage II clinical cases and not in the chronic stages.

The negative control group consisted of 31 sera previously found to be negative for the presence of anti-Lyme antibodies in conventional assays. Furthermore, 64 sera from healthy blood donors residing in a region endemic for Lyme disease (Monthley, Valais, Switzerland) were tested with the recombinant protein.

The strength of the reaction was evaluated as follows: [+], [++], [+++], [−] or equivocal results. The equivocal results were considered to be negative.

The results are given in table 4.

TABLE 4 Reactivity in Line immunoblot of human sera from patients with Lyme borreliosis, with 3 chimeric recombinant proteins bLYM114 (SEQ ID NO: 9), bLYM120 (SEQ ID NO: 11) and bLYM121 (SEQ ID NO: 14) IgG IgM Stage I Stage II Stage III Stage I Stage II EM NB Carditis LA ACA LCB EM NB Carditis Protein (n = 22) (n = 20) (n = 5) (n = 19) (n = 20) (n = 10) (n = 22) (n = 20) (n = 5) bLYM114 5 10 0 7 12 2  7 7 2 bLYM120 6  7 0 8  6 0 11 7 2 bLYM121 2 10 5 9  8 0  7 7 2 Σ bLYM 9 13 5 18  17 2 11 7 2 114 + 120 + 121 Positive 40.9% 59.1% 100% 94.7% 85% 20% 50% 35% 40% sera (%)  1 [+++]  8 [+++] 4 [+++]  7 [+++]  8 [+++]   1 [+++] and 4 [++] 2 [++] 8 [++] 5 [++] 1 [++]  7 [++] 5 [++] 2 [++] reaction 4 [+]  3 [+]  1 [+]   3 [+]  4 [+]  1 [+]  5 [+] 2 [+]  strength Total 66.7% 42.5% positives 28 [+++]   1 [+++] and 20 [++]  14 [++] reaction 16 [+]  7 [+] strength The specificity is 100% on the basis of 31 sera originating from healthy individuals determined to be Lyme-negative using the standard commercially available tests.

IgGs Detection

The results indicate that the recombinant chimeric fusion proteins are diagnostic tools that are sensitive at all stages of the infection for IgGs and IgMs. They demonstrate an additional effect of the three recombinant proteins based, respectively, on sequences of Borrelia afzelii, B. sensu stricto and B. garinii for the detection of IgGs. The combined use of the three chimeric recombinant proteins makes it possible, at stage I of the infection, to detect IgGs in 9 cases of patients with EM out of 22 (i.e. 40.9% sensitivity).

IgM Detection

Anti-chimera protein IgMs are found in 11 cases out of 22 (i.e. 50% sensitivity). These chimera proteins therefore detect the IgMs more often than the IgGs in the sera of stage-I LB patients. The tests performed as a control: in-house immunoblot [4], and the commercially available kit Borrelia IgM (r-biopharm®) do not further detect IgM-positive sera. In addition, 3 sera found to be negative using the immunoblot test and Borrelia IgM (r-biopharm®) are detected by the three chimeric proteins cited as example (3/3) or by one of the three proteins cited as example (⅓). The combined use of the three recombinant proteins makes it possible to improve the IgM detection sensitivity by 13.6% in stage I of the infection.

Example 4: Preparation of Plasmid Constructs Encoding the VlsE Chimeric Recombinant Proteins

The DNA sequences encoding the various sequences of the protein are identified in table 5.

TABLE 5 Sequence origin B. burgdorferi species protein B. sensu stricto B. afzelii B. garinii V1sE — — *PBi; **aa 20-293; ***AJ630106 (GenScript Corp) IR6 *B31; *ACA-1; *Ip90; **aa 274-305; **aa 172-188; **aa 167-191; ***U76405 ***U76405 ***AAN87834 (GeneArt GmbH) (GeneArt GmbH) (GeneArt GmbH) *Isolate; **amino acids (aa); ***GenBank accession No.

The sequences were optimized for their expression in E. coli using GeneOptimizer™ and synthesized respectively by GenScript corporation (Scotch Plains, N.J., USA) or GeneArt GmbH (Regensburg, Germany).

Additional modifications to the DNA, deletions or combinations of various sequences were carried out by PCR by genetic engineering using the PCR techniques well known to those skilled in the art and described, for example, in Sambrook J. et al., Molecular Cloning: A Laboratory Manual, 1989. The DNA sequences were ligated into the pMR [2] or pET-3d (Novagen®) expression vector. The plasmid constructs and the corresponding proteins cited as example (bLYM110, bLYM125) are described in table 6.

TABLE 6 Plasmid constructs and corresponding proteins Plasmid construct Recombinant protein characteristics characteristics Name N- B. burgdorferi Parental Site of terminal sequence vector insertion Tag of the insert sequence into the vector bLYM110 6 × His VlsE garinii pBi aa 20-293 + pMR78 5′BamHI/ SEQ ID 3 IR6 [sensu stricto B21 aa 3′HindIII NO: 39 274-305 + afzelii ACA-1aa bLYM125 8 × His 172-188 + pET-3d 5′NcoI/ SEQ ID garinii Ip90 aa 167-191] 3′BamHI NO: 41

Example 5: Expression of the Recombinant Proteins of Example 4 and Purification

A plasmid construct described in example 4 was used to transform an E. coli bacterium (strain BL21) according to a conventional protocol known to those skilled in the art. The transformed bacteria were selected by virtue of their ampicillin resistance carried by the pMR or pET vector.

A clone of a recombinant bacterium was then selected in order to inoculate a preculture of 40 ml of 2×YT medium (16 g/l tryptone; 10 g/l yeast extract; 5 g/l NaCl, pH 7.0) containing 100 μg/ml ampicillin. After 15 to 18 hours of incubation at 30° C. with shaking at 250 rpm, this preculture was used to inoculate 1 liter of 2×YT medium containing 2% glucose and 100 μg/ml ampicillin. This culture was incubated at 30° C. with shaking at 250 rpm until the OD at 600 nm reaches 1.0/1.2. The culture was maintained for 3 hours 30 min. or 4 hours at 30° C. while adding 0.4 mM isopropyl-β-D-thio-galactopyranoside (IPTG) and harvested by centrifugation at 6000 g for 30 min. The cell pellet was stored at −60° C. For the purification, the wet biomass was resuspended in a lysis buffer containing protease inhibitors without EDTA (Roche) and benzonase nuclease (Novagen®), and subjected to cell rupture at 1.6 kBar in a cell disrupter (Constant Systems Ltd, Daventry, United Kingdom). The lysate was then centrifuged at 10 000 rpm for 45 minutes at 2-8° C. After filtration through a 0.22 μm filter, the supernatant was loaded onto an Ni-NTA column (Qiagen®) equilibrated in a lysis buffer. The resin was then washed with the same buffer until the A_(280 nm) reached the base line. An elution was carried out with the elution buffer, and the purified protein was dialyzed in a Pierce Slide-A-Lyser® 10000 or 20000 MWCO dialysis cassette against the dialysis buffer. The conditions for purification on Ni-NTA gel are described in table 7.

TABLE 7 Recombinant protein purification bLYM110 bLYM125 Protein SEQ ID NO: 39 SEQ ID NO: 41 Lysis and washing buffer Buffer A ¹ Buffer A ¹ + 2M urea Elution buffer Buffer B ² Buffer B ² modified with 600 mM imidazole Elution step 1 86% Buffer A + 92% Buffer A + 14% Buffer B 8% Buffer B (4CV) (4CV) Elution step 2 100% Buffer B 100% Buffer B Purification yield 0.5 0.8 mg protein/g wet biomass Purification yield 8.7 17   mg protein/L of culture ¹ 50 mM sodium phosphate, 30 mM imidazole, 500 mM NaCl, 0.1% TWEEN 20, 5% glycerol, pH = 7.8 ² 50 mM sodium phosphate, 325 mM imidazole, 500 mM NaCl, 5% glycerol, pH = 7.5

The samples were analyzed on NuPAGE® Novex® 4-12% in a NuPAGE® MES-SDS circulating buffer, according to the instructions of the producer (Invitrogen™). The proteins were either stained with COOMASSIE BRILLIANT BLUE or were transferred electrophoretically onto a nitrocellulose membrane. The membrane was blocked with 5% (w/v) dry milk in PBS and incubated with an anti-pentahistidine antibody (Qiagen®) in PBS containing 0.05% TWEEN 20. A horseradish peroxidase-labeled goat anti-mouse IgG conjugate (Jackson Immunoresearch laboratories) in PBS/TWEEN was used as secondary antibody.

The protein concentration was determined using the Bradford Assay Kit (PIERCE COOMASSIE PLUS, Perbio Science) with BSA as protein standard.

Example 6: Detection of Human IgGs and IgMs with the Chimeric Recombinant Protein bLYM110 of Example 5 Using a Line Immunoblot Technique

The recombinant protein was deposited onto a polyvinylidene difluoride membrane (PVDF, Immobilon, Millipore®, Bedford, Mass. USA) according to the following protocol:

The protein concentration was adjusted to 1 mg/ml in PBS, pH 7.2, and diluted in PBS, pH 7.2, supplemented with 0.03% TWEEN 20 (dilution 1/200^(th)). The PVDF membrane was wetted in methanol, washed in demineralized water and laid out on a wet blotting paper. A plastic ruler was immersed in the protein dilution and attached to the PVDF membrane. After depositing of the proteins and drying of the membranes, the membranes were cut vertically into narrow strips. Before use, the narrow strips were incubated with 5% gelatin in TBS, pH 7.5, for 1 hour at 37° C. The immunoblot protocols were carried out at ambient temperature as described by Bretz A. G. et al. [3]. The narrow strips were incubated for 2 hours with human sera diluted to 1/200^(th) in TBS with 1% gelatin, washed and incubated with anti-human IgGs or IgMs labeled with alkaline phosphatase (Sigma™, St-Louis, USA) diluted to 1/1000^(th) in TBS with 1% gelatin. After washing, the narrow strips were incubated with the BCIP-NBT substrate (KPL, Gaithersburg, Md., USA) for 30 minutes, washed in distilled water and dried. Panel of Sera Tested

The human sera were collected from clinically well-defined, typical LB patients corresponding to the various stages of LB (22 with erythema migrans [EM], 5 with carditis, 20 with neuroborreliosis [NB], 20 with Lyme arthritis [LA], 20 with acrodermatitis chronica atrophicans [ACA] and 10 with lymphadenosis cutis benigna [LCB]). Anti-Lyme IgGs were found by immunoblot, described previously using whole cell lysates [4], in the sera of patients with LA, ACA and carditis. EM, NB and LCB were identified clinically, but not all the corresponding sera were found to be positive using the immunoblot [4], or using the commercially available kits (Vidal® Lyme (biomérieux®), Borrelia IgG (Diasorin®) and Borrelia IgM (r-biopharm®)). On the other hand, all the cases of NB included in the study had detectable antibodies in the cerebrospinal fluid [CSF] (index extending from 2 to 27.1).

The negative control group consisted of 31 sera previously found to be negative for the presence of anti-Lyme antibodies in conventional assays. Furthermore, 64 sera from healthy blood donors residing in a region endemic for Lyme disease (Monthley, Valis, Switzerland) were tested with the recombinant protein. The strength of the reaction was evaluated as follows: [+], [++], [+++], [−] or equivocal results. The equivocal results were considered to be negative.

The results are given in table 8 below.

TABLE 8 IgG Stage I Stage II Stage III EM NB Carditis LA ACA Lymph. Donors (n = 22) (n = 20) (n = 5) (n = 19) (n = 20) (n = 10) (n = 64) 17 20 5 19 20 9 6 77.3% 100% 100% 100% 100% 90% 9.4% 12 [+++] 11 [+++] 4 [+++] 13 [+++] 20 [+++]  3 [+++] 6 [+] 4 [++] 7 [++] 1 [++]  4 [++] 2 [++] 1 [+]  2 [+]  2 [+]  4 [+]  IgM EM NB Carditis (n = 22) (n = 20) (n = 5) (n = 64) 5 4 2 1 22% 20% 40% 1.5% 1 [++] 2 [++] 1 [++] 1 [+] 4 [+]  1 [+]  1 [+]  Total IgG positives 93.7% Total IgM positives 23.4%

IgG Detection

The results indicate that the recombinant protein bLYM110 is a diagnostic antigen that is highly sensitive at all stages of the infection for IgGs. At stage I of the infection, the IgGs were detected in 17 cases of patients with EM out of 22 (i.e. 77.3% sensitivity). Five of the patients with EM who are found to be negative with the recombinant protein are also found to be negative with the in-house immunoblot and with the commercially available kits. Seven EM sera found to be positive with the recombinant protein were not detected by immunoblot, which represents a 31.8% improvement in sensitivity with the recombinant protein. At the primary stage of the infection, in the absence of characteristic redness, the diagnosis can be difficult since the other clinical manifestations of Lyme disease are not specific. Furthermore, only a few patients with EM are detected using the conventional tests. Therefore, the protein of the invention improves the detection of IgGs at stage I of the infection, bringing their detection to more than 77% in patients with EM.

IgM Detection

Anti-chimera protein IgMs are found in 23.4% of the LB sera. The protein detects the IgGs more often than the IgMs in the sera of stage-I and -II LB patients.

Example 7: Evaluation and Validation of the Chimeric Recombinant Proteins bLYM114, bLYM120, bLYM121 and bLYM125 in a VIDAS® Test (bioMérieux)

This validation is carried out in a VIDAS® test using:

1) the chimeric recombinant proteins bLYM114, bLYM120 and bLYM121, obtained according to examples 1 and 2, for the IgM detection, and

2) the chimeric recombinant proteins bLYM114 and bLYM120, obtained according to examples 1 and 2, and the chimeric protein bLYM125, obtained according to examples 4 and 5, for the IgG detection.

The principle of the VIDAS® test is the following: a tip constitutes the solid support which also serves as a pipetting system for the reagents present in the strip. The recombinant protein(s) is (are) attached to the tip. After a dilution step, the sample is drawn up and forced back several times in the tip. This allows the anti-Lyme immunoglobulins in the sample to bind to the recombinant proteins. The unbound proteins are removed by washing. An anti-human-immunoglobulin antibody conjugated to alkaline phosphatase (ALP) is incubated in the tip, where it binds to the anti-Lyme immunoglobulins. Washing steps remove the unbound conjugate. During the final visualizing step, the alkaline phosphatase (ALP) substrate, 4-methylumbelliferyl phosphate, is hydrolyzed to 4-methyl-umbelliferone, the fluorescence of which emitted at 450 nm is measured. The intensity of the fluorescence is measured by means of the Vidas® optical system and is proportional to the presence of anti-Lyme immunoglobulins present in the sample.

The results are analyzed automatically by the VIDAS® and expressed as RFV (Relative Fluorescent Value).

255 positive sera (equivocal sera+positive sera) and 298 negative sera (equivocal+negative) were thus assayed with the Vidas® system.

The Vidas® Lyme IgG tips are sensitized with 300 μL of solution comprising the bLYM114, bLYM120 and bLYM125 proteins of the invention, each at a concentration of 1 μg/mL in a common sensitizing solution.

In the first step, the sera are incubated for 5.3 min. for the formation of the antigen-antibody complexes. In the second step, anti-human-IgGs labeled with ALP are incubated for 5.3 min.

The results are given as an index relative to a positivity threshold positioned at 135 RFV in the protocol.

-   -   Among the 255 positive sera tested, 246 are positive and 9 are         falsely negative, which corresponds to a sensitivity of 96.5%.     -   Among the 298 negative sera tested, 284 are negative and 14 are         falsely positive, which corresponds to a specificity of 95.3%.

LITERATURE REFERENCES

-   1. Göttner G. et al., Int. J. Microbiol. 293, Suppl. 37, 172-173     (2004) -   2. Arnaud N. et al., Gene 1997; 199:149-156. -   3. Bretz A. G., K. Ryffel, P. Hutter, E. Dayer and O. Péter.     Specificities and sensitivities of four monoclonal antibodies for     typing of Borrelia burgdorferi sensu lato isolates. Clin. Diag. Lab.     Immunol. 2001; 8: 376-384. -   4. Ryffel K., Péter O., Rutti B. and E. Dayer. Scored antibody     reactivity by immunoblot suggests organotropism of Borrelia     burgdorferi sensu stricto, B. garinii, B. afzelii and B. valaisiana     in human. J. Clin. Microbial. 1999; 37:4086-92 

The invention claimed is:
 1. A chimeric polypeptide comprising (i) a first amino acid sequence comprising any of the amino acid sequences of SEQ ID Nos: 1, 3, 5 and 6, and (ii) a second amino acid sequence comprising any of the amino acid sequences of SEQ ID Nos: 2, 4 and
 7. 2. The polypeptide as claimed in claim 1, comprising the amino acid sequences of SEQ ID NO: 1 and SEQ ID NO:
 2. 3. The polypeptide as claimed in claim 1, comprising the amino acid sequences of SEQ ID NO: 1 and SEQ ID NO:
 2. 4. The polypeptide as claimed in claim 1, comprising the amino acid sequences of SEQ ID NO: 5 and SEQ ID NO:
 7. 5. The polypeptide as claimed in claim 1, comprising the amino acid sequences of SEQ ID NO: 6 and SEQ ID NO:
 7. 6. The polypeptide as claimed in claim 1, comprising the amino acid sequences of SEQ ID NO: 5, SEQ ID NO: 6, and SEQ ID NO:
 7. 7. A diagnostic kit comprising the polypeptide as claimed in claim
 1. 8. The diagnostic kit as claimed in claim 7, further comprising an anti-human-immunoglobulin labeled with a label.
 9. The diagnostic kit as claimed in claim 7, further comprising a chimeric Variable Lipoprotein Surface-Exposed (VlsE) polypeptide. 